Lierooi

Hi All,

I've made an itinerary for a 3-week trip to Colombia. It is for either 2 or 3 adults. Period mid-September until early October.
Flying in to Bogota, flying out from Medellin. Nothing is booked yet, so very open to suggestions because we have some questions...

First the itinerary (numbers are days):

1-Bogota>Arrive
2-Bogota
3-Bogota
4-Bogota
5-Cano Cristales (La Macarena)
6-Cano Cristales (La Macarena)
7-Bogota
8-San Gil
9-San Gil
10-Tayrona NNP
11-Tayrona NNP
12-Cartagena
13-Cartagena
14-Cartagena
15-Cartagena
16-Medellin
17-Medellin
18-Medellin
19-Medellin
20-Medellin>Fly back

Question 1: I understand that as a tourist you can only enter Cano Cristales with a booked tour. An operator can even arrange your trip from BOG to the National Park. But is 2 days too short? Any tips on tour operators? I believe they fly you out to La Macarena and back is what I understood.

Question 2: The reason for selecting San Gil is white water rafting. A second day could be spent horseback riding. Any tips on outfits that offer this? I'd like to book some in advance.

Question 3: How does this itinerary look to the experts? It's our first time in Colombia. I based the destinations (distance) and travel times on a previous trip to Argentina and Chile. Please tell me if we take too long o short for places. We are quite fixed on the travel time (mid-Sept > early-Oct). Is this doable in terms of weather/traveling etc?


In general we can adjust the whole trip, nothing is booked yet and looking for a mix of adventure, nature, city life and even nightlife (clubbing). We are willing to fly/bus/taxi/rental car between all places.

Thank you so much in advance on any tips and tricks.


Leroy

crellston

This may be a bit late but here goes anyway. Much as I loved Bogota, Medellin and Cartgena and spent even longer than you are planning we were there for 3 months. in the time you have, I do think your itinerary is way too city centric. For me at least, the true beauty of Colombia is to be found in the smaller villages and towns.

I would definitely keep Bogota and Medellin and a great way to kick start visits to both cities is with a ‘free” walking tour with a local (tips only). Incredibly useful to get to grips with each city and to pick up tips on where else to go and where to eat etc. Cartagena is great too but only needs a couple of days (though we dd do a great side trip to Mompox from there.

Cant help with Cana Cristales as we didn’t go but I believe you are correct that it has to be done with an organised tour.

There are tons of adventure activity operators in San Gil so I would just turn up and pick one to see what they offer. Sadly we didn’t get the opportunity as we where there in the midst of torrential rain and floods so we made our excuses and left! Would highly recommend nearby Barichara though. Surely one of teh most beautiful villages in Latin America!

Other places I would be seriously considering would be Villa de Lleyva, Salento, Jardin, San Agustin many of which are covered in our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/colombia/

As for getting around the country, we had planned to do this by bus as we had throughout the rest of South America. However having witnessed countless RTAs in our first few days and actually being involved in two, we decided to fly wherever possible for the longer legs. It wasn’t much more expensive. Didn’t even think of renting a car, though we did meet up with a very famous actor who was seeing the country with a car and driver and was enjoying it.

We were there from June too August and, apart from said floods, had pretty good weather which got better as teh trip went on so I imagine it should be pretty good in Sept. In terms of clothes, think layers. It can get very hot during the day but can be cold at night usually because of the altitude.

It is an incredible country and one to which we would love to return..

SantacruzGuy

Isn't safer to select an itinerary that's city-centric? I have never been to Colombia but there have been reports of the crime rate recently and would love to know if it's as dangerous as reported.

Thanks!

crellston

"Isn't safer to select an itinerary that's city-centric?" No it is not. Why would you think it was safer in a city?

"I have never been to Colombia but there have been reports of the crime rate recently and would love it if it's as dangerous as reported" Why would you love it if it is dangerous?

SantacruzGuy

I guess it is usually safer when people are around.

"Why would you love it if it is dangerous?"
Sorry miswrote that part! Of course, I would prefer it to be less dangerous and I guess so does everybody else.